-
Not Synced
When I was a kid,
-
Not Synced
my mom and I made this deal.
-
Not Synced
I was allowed to take three
mental health rest days every semester
-
Not Synced
as long as I continued
to do well in school.
-
Not Synced
This was because I started
my mental health journey
-
Not Synced
when I was only six years old.
-
Not Synced
I was always what my grade-school teachers
would call "a worrier,"
-
Not Synced
but later on we found out that I have
trauma-induced anxiety
-
Not Synced
and clinical depression.
-
Not Synced
This made growing up pretty hard.
-
Not Synced
I was worried about a lot of things
that other kids weren't
-
Not Synced
and school got really
overwhelming sometimes.
-
Not Synced
This resulted in a lot of breakdowns,
-
Not Synced
panic attacks --
-
Not Synced
sometimes I was super productive
-
Not Synced
and other days I couldn't
get anything done.
-
Not Synced
This was all happening during a time
-
Not Synced
when mental health
wasn't being talked about
-
Not Synced
as much as it is now.
-
Not Synced
Especially youth mental health.
-
Not Synced
Some semesters I used
all of those rest days to the fullest.
-
Not Synced
Others, I didn't need any at all.
-
Not Synced
But the fact that they
were always an option
-
Not Synced
is what kept me a happy, healthy
and successful student.
-
Not Synced
Now I'm using those skills
that I learned as a kid
-
Not Synced
to help other students
with mental health challenges.
-
Not Synced
I'm here today to offer you some insight
into the world of teenage mental health:
-
Not Synced
what's going on,
-
Not Synced
how did we get here
-
Not Synced
and what can we do?
-
Not Synced
But first you need to understand
-
Not Synced
that while not everyone has
a diagnoses mental illness like I do,
-
Not Synced
absolutely everyone --
-
Not Synced
all of you have mental health.
-
Not Synced
All of us have a brain
that needs to be cared for
-
Not Synced
in similar ways that we care
for our physical well-being.
-
Not Synced
Our head and our body are connected
by much more than just our neck afterall.
-
Not Synced
Mental illness even manifests itself
in some physical ways
-
Not Synced
such as nausea, headaches,
fatigue and shortness of breath.
-
Not Synced
So since mental health effects all of us,
-
Not Synced
should we be coming up with solutions
that are accessible to all of us?
-
Not Synced
That brings me to my second
part of my story.
-
Not Synced
When I was in high school
-
Not Synced
I had gotten pretty good
at managing my own mental health.
-
Not Synced
I was a successful student
-
Not Synced
and I was president of the organized
association of student councils.
-
Not Synced
But it was around this time
that I began to realize
-
Not Synced
mental health is much a bigger problem
than just for me personally.
-
Not Synced
Unfortunately, my hometown was touched
by multiple suicides
-
Not Synced
during my first year in high school.
-
Not Synced
I saw tose tragedies shake
our entire community,
-
Not Synced
and as the president
of a state-wide group,
-
Not Synced
I began hearing more and more stories
-
Not Synced
from students where this had also
happened in their town.
-
Not Synced
So in 2018 at our annual summer camp,
-
Not Synced
we held a forum with about
100 high school students
-
Not Synced
to discuss teenage mental health.
-
Not Synced
What could we do?
-
Not Synced
We approach this conversation
with an enormous amount of empathy
-
Not Synced
and honesty
-
Not Synced
and the results were astounding.
-
Not Synced
What struck me the most
-
Not Synced
was that every single one
of my peers had a story
-
Not Synced
about a mental health
crisis in their school.
-
Not Synced
No matter if they were from a tiny
town in eastern Oregon
-
Not Synced
or the very heart of Portland.
-
Not Synced
This was happening everywhere.
-
Not Synced
We even did some research,
-
Not Synced
and we found out that suicide
is the second leading cause of death
-
Not Synced
for youth ages 10 to 24 in Oregon.
-
Not Synced
The second leading cause.
-
Not Synced
We knew we had to do something,
-
Not Synced
so over the next few months,
-
Not Synced
we made a committee called
Students For a Healthy Oregon
-
Not Synced
and we set out to end the stigma
against mental health.
-
Not Synced
We also wanted to prioritize
mental health in schools.
-
Not Synced
What the help of some lobbyists
and a few mental health professionals,
-
Not Synced
we put forth House Bill 2191.
-
Not Synced
This bill allows students to take
mental health days off from school
-
Not Synced
the same way you would
a physical health day,
-
Not Synced
because oftentimes that day off
-
Not Synced
is the difference between feeling
a whole lot better and a whole lot worse.
-
Not Synced
Kind of like those days my mom gave me
when I was younger.
-
Not Synced
So over the next few months,
-
Not Synced
we lobbied and researched
and campaigned for our bill,
-
Not Synced
and in June of 2019
it was finally signed into law.
-
Not Synced
(Applause)
-
Not Synced
This was a groundbreaking moment
for Oregon students.
-
Not Synced
Here's an example of how
this is playing out now.
-
Not Synced
Let's say a student is having
a really hard month.
-
Not Synced
They're overwhelmed, overworked,
-
Not Synced
they're falling behind in school
and they know they need help.
-
Not Synced
Maybe they've never talked
about mental health
-
Not Synced
with their parents before,
-
Not Synced
and now they have a law on their side
to help initiate that conversation.
-
Not Synced
The parent still needs to be the one
to call the school and excuse the absence,
-
Not Synced
so it's not like it's a free
pass for the kids,
-
Not Synced
but most importantly,
-
Not Synced
now that school has that absence
recorded as a mental health day,
-
Not Synced
so they can keep track
-
Not Synced
of just how many students take
how many mental health days.
-
Not Synced
If a student takes too many,
-
Not Synced
they'll be referred to the school
counselor for a check-in.
-
Not Synced
This is important because we can
catch students who are struggling
-
Not Synced
before it's too late.
-
Not Synced
One of the main things we heard
at that forum in 2018
-
Not Synced
is that oftentimes stepping forward
and getting help is the hardest step.
-
Not Synced
We're hoping that this law
can help with that.
-
Not Synced
This not only will start teaching kids
young how to take care of themselves
-
Not Synced
and practice self-care
and stress management,
-
Not Synced
but it could also literally save lives.
-
Not Synced
Now students from multiple other states
are also trying to pass these laws.
-
Not Synced
I'm currently working with students
in both Californira and Colorado
-
Not Synced
to do the same
-
Not Synced
because we believe that students
everywhere deserve a chance
-
Not Synced
to feel better.
-
Not Synced
Aside from all the practical reasons
and technicalities,
-
Not Synced
House Bill 2191 is really special
because of the core concept behind it:
-
Not Synced
that physical and mental health
are equal and should be treated as such.
-
Not Synced
In fact, they're connected.
-
Not Synced
Take health care for example.
-
Not Synced
Think about CPR.
-
Not Synced
If you were put in a situation where you
had to administer CPR,
-
Not Synced
would you know at least
a little bit of what to do?
-
Not Synced
Think to yourself:
-
Not Synced
most likely yes because CPR trainings
are offered in most schools, workplaces
-
Not Synced
and even online.
-
Not Synced
We even have songs that go with it.
-
Not Synced
But how about mental health care?
-
Not Synced
I know I was trained in CPR
in my seventh grade health class.
-
Not Synced
What if I was trained in seventh grade
how to manage my mental health
-
Not Synced
or how to respond
o a mental health crisis?
-
Not Synced
I'd love to see a world where each of us
has a toolkit of skills to help a friend,
-
Not Synced
coworker,
-
Not Synced
family member
-
Not Synced
or even stranger going through
a mental health crisis.
-
Not Synced
And these resources should be
especially available in schools
-
Not Synced
because that's where students
are struggling the most.
-
Not Synced
The other concept that I sincerely hope
you take with you today
-
Not Synced
is that it is always OK to not be OK,
-
Not Synced
and it is always OK to take a break.
-
Not Synced
It doesn't have to be a whole day.
-
Not Synced
Sometimes that's not realisitc.
-
Not Synced
But it can be a few moments here and there
to check in with yourself.
-
Not Synced
Think of life like a race.
-
Not Synced
Like a long-distance race.
-
Not Synced
If you sprint in the very beginning
you're going to get burnt out.
-
Not Synced
You may even hurt yourself
from pushing too hard.
-
Not Synced
But if you pace yourself,
-
Not Synced
if you take it slow sometimes
intentionally
-
Not Synced
and you push yourself other times,
-
Not Synced
you are sure to be way more successful.
-
Not Synced
So please,
-
Not Synced
look after each other,
-
Not Synced
look at the kids and teens in your life,
-
Not Synced
especially the ones that look like
they have it all together.
-
Not Synced
Mental health challenges
are not going away,
-
Not Synced
but as a society,
-
Not Synced
we can learn how to manage them
by looking after one another.
-
Not Synced
And look after yourself too.
-
Not Synced
As my mom would say,
-
Not Synced
"Once in a while, take a break."
-
Not Synced
Thank you.
-
Not Synced
(Applause)